List of Spider-Man enemies
depicting many of the Spider-Man villains that the superhero has faced in the comic books.]] Spider-Man has one of the best-known rogues galleries in comics, in part because he has been the featured character in more individual titles (The Amazing Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Team-Up, Web of Spider-Man, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and others, many of which were published simultaneously for years) than any other comic book superhero except for Superman and Batman, giving him a large number of published stories in which to fight a proportionately large number of villains. As with Spider-Man, the majority of these villains' powers originate with scientific accidents or the misuse of scientific technology, tend to have animal-themed costumes or powers, and are nearly all male. At times these villains have formed groups such as the Sinister Six to oppose Spider-Man. Spider-Man has one of the largest rogues galleries, alongside Batman and The Flash. Recurring supervillains Common characters Most of what would be the A-list supervillains of Spider-Man would be introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man comic book starting with the Chameleon. The early villains would be introduced in the 1960s in the Silver Age of Comic Books. Originally created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. John Romita, Sr. would soon replace Ditko starting with the Rhino and continue through the early Bronze Age of Comic Books. Around the 1970s other writers would then replace both Stan and John in creating new villains such as the Hobgoblin and Venom in 1980s and Carnage in the 1990s from the Bronze Age to the Modern Age of Comics. Note: Alter ego characters who are the most high profile in the supervillain alias but others have shared that supervillain name are in bold. In chronological order. } |Stan Lee Steve Ditko |Master of disguise. Can make himself look like anybody. |- |Vulture |'Adrian Toomes' |''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #2 (May 1963) |Stan LeeDeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 92: "Introduced in the lead story of The Amazing Spider-Man #2 and created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the Vulture was the first in a long line of animal-inspired super-villains that were destined to battle everyone's favorite web-slinger." Steve Ditko |An inventor that created mechanical wings that he harnessed to himself to let him fly and have superhuman strength. |- |Doctor Octopus | Doctor Octavius | The Amazing Spider-Man #3 (July 1963) |Stan LeeDeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 93: "Dr. Octopus shared many traits with Peter Parker. They were both shy, both interested in science, and both had trouble relating to women...Otto Octavius even looked like a grown up Peter Parker. Lee and Ditko intended Otto to be the man Peter might have become if he hadn't been raised with a sense of responsiblity. Steve Ditko |Originally a scientist whose invention of metallic limbs had become fused to his body by a accident which caused his sanity. He has telepathic control of these arms and they are strong enough to physically hurt Spider-Man when Octavius controls them. |- |Sandman | William Baker / Flint Marko | The Amazing Spider-Man #4 (September 1963) |Stan Lee Steve Ditko |After bathed in a nuclear reaction. His body is formed with sand which is depicted that he can manipulate in many ways such as shapeshifting and increasing his density and strength to lift up to 85 tons along with increasing height, turning his hands into weapons such as hammer or a mace along with being able form a near-impenetrable wall of sand or create a dust storm. |- |Lizard | Dr. Curt Connors |''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #6 (November 1963)DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 95 | Stan Lee Steve Ditko |Doctor Connors tested himself a experimental serum from reptile DNA which created him as a giant humanoid Lizard. As the Lizard he has regeneration abilities. Along with superhuman strength, speed and agility. He can also telepathically command all reptiles within a one-mile radius. |- |Electro | Maxwell Dillon | ''The Amazing Spider-Man #9 (February 1964)DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 98 | Stan Lee Steve Ditko |As a lineman for an electric company, he was repairing a power line and holding a wire when lightning struck and mutated his nervous system making him a living electrical capacitor. He gained the power of electric mutation such as shooting up to one million volts of electricity from his fingertips. He also has superhuman strength and is fast when his body is charged and can glide over power lines along with even riding lightning bolts. |- |Mysterio | Quentin Beck | The Amazing Spider-Man #13 (June 1964) |Stan Lee Steve Ditko | Uses special effects that makes him a master of illusion. Also knows hypnosis. Can use combat that he learned from being a stuntman. Has knowledge of robotics and chemistry. |- |Green Goblin |'Norman Osborn' Harry Osborn | The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964) | Stan Lee Steve Ditko |Powers that derive from a "Goblin formula" that increase agility, endurance strength and reflexes to superhuman levels. The formula has also advances the intelligence but with a side effect of insanity. Has many weapons that Norman Osborn originally created. Such as glider to fly with and pumpkin bombs to throw. |- |Kraven the Hunter | Sergei Kravinoff | The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (August 1964) | Stan Lee Steve Ditko |Depicted as the world's greatest big-game hunter. Prefers using his bare hands instead of guns. Uses preparation along with magic jungle potion which helps with speed, strength and game tracking. |- |Scorpion | Mac Gargan | The Amazing Spider-Man #20 (January 1965) |Stan Lee Steve Ditko |Endured a test that made him more powerful than Spider-Man but also insane. It gave him superhuman strength of a scorpion. He was then provided with a scorpion themed suit and weaponry (such as a tail which evolved from a simple club tail to a scythe-like spike capable of shooting lasers, acid among other projectiles.) Gargan also also gained power when switching to the Scorpion to being one of the characters known as Venom. See Venom's power and abilites below to see that power. |- |Rhino |Aleksei Mikhailovich Sytsevich | The Amazing Spider-Man #41 (October 1966) | Stan Lee John Romita, Sr. |Although classified as a fictional villain famous for being dimwitted. . He has superhuman strength with a rhinoceros modeled armor when undergoing a chemical and radiation treatment which would transform him as being a collective of professional spies. |- |Shocker |Herman Schultz | The Amazing Spider-Man #47 (March 1967) | Stan lee John Romita, Sr. |Wears a battle suit that contains vibro-shock gauntlets. |- |Kingpin |Wilson Fisk |''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #50 (July 1967) (Also known as the storyline "Spider-Man No More!")DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 122: "Stan Lee wanted to create a new kind of crime boss. Someone who treated crime as if it were a business...He pitched this idea to artist John Romita and it was Wilson Fisk who emerged in The Amazing Spider-Man #50." | Stan Lee John Romita, Sr. |Depicted as crime lord of New York City. Manipulate henchman to do his bidding. His body consists of mostly muscle (despite looking like he is obese) that has much strength and agility. Enough to grapple and hammer Spider-Man. |- |Jackal |Miles Warren |''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #129 (February 1974) |Gerry Conway Ross Andru |Brilliant proffessor with the knowledge of cloning and using it to torment Spider-Man emotionally. |- |Black Cat |Felicia Hardy |''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #194 (July 1979)Manning "1970s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 107: "Spider-Man wasn't exactly sure what to think about his luck when he met a beautiful new thief on the prowl named the Black Cat, courtesy of a story by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Keith Pollard." |Marv Wolfman Keith Pollard |Expert burglary skills taught by her father along with carrying a grappling hook for swinging on rooftops. Had bad luck powers off and on. |- |Hobgoblin |'Roderick Kingsley' Jason Macendale |''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #238 (March 1983) |Roger SternManning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 133: "Writer Roger Stern and artists John Romita, Jr. and John Romita, Sr. introduced a new - and frighteningly sane - version of the Goblin concept with the debut of the Hobgoblin."David and Greenberger, pp. 68-69: "Writer Roger Stern is primarily remembered for two major contributions to the world of Peter Parker. One was a short piece entitled 'The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man'...his other major contribution was the introduction of the Hobgoblin." John Romita Sr. |Powers similar to Green Goblin after discovering Norman's lair. Perfecting Green Goblin's strength portion, goblin glider and pumpkin bombs without the insanity that Norman had. |- |Venom |'Eddie Brock' |''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #299 Manning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 169: "In this landmark installment #298, one of the most popular characters in the wall-crawler's history would begin to step into the spotlight courtesy of one of the most popular artists to ever draw the web-slinger." |Todd McFarlane |The symbiote that once merged with Spider-Man as a suit mimics and enhances the abilities of Spider-Man once bonded with Eddie. Also he is undetectable to Spider-Man's spider sense. |- |Carnage |Cletus Kasady |''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #361 (April 1992) |David Michelinie Erik Larsen Mark Bagley |Being an offspring of Venom. Carnage is an even stronger and more powerful character than Venom with his symbiotic powers. He can shapeshift himself such as creating sharp weapons with his symbiote body. He can also plant ideas in people's heads. |} Other recurring characters Note: In alphabetical order. Notes #The Chameleon is the first member of Spider-Man's rogues gallery in publication date. (Excluding the Burglar). He is also well known to be related to Kraven the Hunter and Kraven to him. That revealed relationship helped evolve him as a major villain compared to his original depiction of being just a originally a solo villain in the original issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. #Electro, besides being most notable as a Spider-Man supervillain, has also been depicted as a Fantastic Four antagonist in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby comics books (mostly due to being introduced as the original Frightful Four ) along with being on the heroic side (being a Avengers member ) until being introduced as a tragic supervillain in the Spider-Man comics once again. #The character is also known as the member of the Frightful Four battling the Fantastic Four. He is also the first major Marvel villain to be written in publication history as battling Daredevil. Even being the founder and leader of the supervillain team that oppose him, the Emissaries of Evil. #Just like Electro. He has crossed over and been a major antagonist of Daredevil in a few issues. He is well known on crossing into Daredevil's territory and affecting him as a antagonist by making him insane (just like what he is usually depicted to be doing to Spider-Man) when Mysterio believes Spider-Man is a clone at one point in certain issues. #Kraven the Hunter has been a recurring villain since his introduction as a Spider-Man villain. But what makes him stand out as one of the great Spider-Man villains along with being one of the memorable issues about the fictional villain in the Spider-Man comics is the critically acclaimed storyline, "Kraven's Last Hunt". #Not counting any other character in the mainstream Marvel Universe with that name. Only outside of the mainstream Spider-Man comics or in other media is there other Spider-Man villains (that isn't named Mac Gargan) that are antagonists of Spider-Man. Gargan is cited to be the fourth who is called that in the comic books but is the most iconic villain with that name. # The villain has crossed over with battling other heroes (especially Hulk) even though the fictional character is usually written off in Spider-Man comics. He is a major character in the storyline titled "Flowers for Rhino" (Spider-Man's Tangled Web). An homage to ''Flowers for Algernon. # Despite first appearing in Spider-Man comic books, the Kingpin is more notable of being a Daredevil adversary. The character that represents the opposite of what Daredevil stands for. Despite this he is a major antagonist of both superheroes in the Marvel comic books just as recurringly. He also is a a major recurring villain in the rest of the Marvel Universe crossing over as major antagonists to superheros/antiheroes (such as the Punisher) in certain comic books of the many based universes of Marvel. (PunisherMAX. etc.) # Miles Warren's technical first appearance was revealed to be in The Amazing Spider-Man 31 (December 1965) created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko before being revealed as the Jackal.Manning "1960s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 31: "This monumental issue saw the first appearances of Peter's upcoming love interest Gwen Stacy, prospective best friend, Harry Osborn, and even the future super villain known as the Jackal." # Although she is listed with the supervillains as she sometimes is depicted in certain portrayals. The Black Cat is more regarded as a anti-heroine than fully supervillain. A character that struggles in between deciding good and bad...and the major femme fatale romantic interest for Spider-Man. Her key role of deciding between crime and having complicated relationships of Spider-Man makes her sometimes labeled as part with the rest of the major rogues gallery of Spider-Man. Nonetheless she has been a staple supporting Spider-Man character during her debute. # This is the first appearance of Eddie Brock as Venom. Not counting the alien costume debut from The Amazing Spider-Man #252 and the symbiote bonding to Spider-Man in Secret Wars #8. # Not counting the creators/designers of the alien costume David Michelinie or Mike Zeck or the Marvel Comics reader who originally thought of it. # Cletus Kasady first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man 344. Carnage is a major character in the popular storyline "Maximum Carnage". # Archenemies: Unlike well known rivalries in comics book depictions (where heroes always still have more than one enemy but usually one archenemy) such as what Lex Luthor is to Superman, Joker is to Batman, Sinestro is to Green Lantern, Deathstroke is to Teen Titans from DC Comics and also Marvel Comics being similar with Red Skull being the archenemy of Captain America, along with Fantastic Four's rivalry with Doctor Doom and the X-Men vs. Brotherhood of Mutants, Wolverine's relationship with Sabertooth etc. Spider-Man though is cited to have more than one archenemy and it can be debated or disputed as to which one is worse: *Doctor Octopus is regarded as one of Spider-Man's worst enemies and archenemy. He has been cited as being depicted as the man Peter might have become if he hadn't been raised with a sense of responsibility. He is infamous for defeating him the first time in battle and for almost marrying Peter's Aunt May. He is the core leader of the Sinister Six and has also referred himself as the "Master Planner". ("If This Be My Destiny...!") Later depictions revealed him in Peter Parker's body where was the titular character for awhile. *Norman Osborn using the Green Goblin alias is also commonly described as Spider-Man's archenemy. Mostly after he is responsible for setting up the death of Spider-Man's girlfriend in one of the most famous Spider-Man stories of all time which helped end the Silver Age of Comic Books and begin the Bronze Age of Comic Books. He was thought to be dead after that but writers help bring him back from the 1990s and he returned to plaque Spider-Man once more in the comic books (such as being involved as killing Aunt May) and other heroes (such as the Avengers ) as well. He is also a enemy of Spider-Man sometimes just as Norman and not just only as the Green Goblin. *Another character commonly described as Venom. Eddie Brock as Venom is commonly described as the mirror version or the evil version of Spider-Man in many ways. Venom's goals is usually depicted as trying to ruin Spider-Man's life and mess with Spider-Man's head when it comes to targeting enemies. He is one of the few villains depicted as unbeatable to Spider-Man without a few weaknesses. Venom is also one of the most popular Spider-Man villains. This popularity has led him to be an established iconic chacter of his own with own comic book stories. References Enemies, List of Spider-Man Spider-Man enemies